Getting head hunted – how to get considered for roles that aren’t advertised.

Getting head hunted – how to get considered for roles that aren’t advertised.

7/8ths of an iceberg is below the water.  This fraction also holds true for the job market in Asia, with about only 1/8^th of roles advertised and visible, while the rest lay hidden, only known by a handful of head hunters. So, if you haven’t been called by your “friendly local neighborhood head-hunter”, here are some actions to take to get inside scoop, on the top jobs in the market. 

1.      Social Media: I bet your clients are all demanding a presence.  Do you have one? Some fantastic sites are out there that are a head hunters dream. If you’re not on linkedin.com, then get on the bandwagon; a very professional site that will add value to your own personal contacts and allow you to be seen without looking like you are about to “jump-ship” from your employer!  Facebook groups and twitter are obvious places to get your name out into the market and the attention of head hunters.

2.      Google yourself: Put your first and last name in Google.  I’m sure you’ve done it before.  But does it paint a picture of you that you want to be known for?  Do you even come up on the first page of results?  If not, your digital footprint (although it may be helping you with privacy) is getting you no closer to the 7/8ths of hidden jobs!  Head hunters WILL Google you at some stage in the process.

3.      Blog: Many of the strongest candidates in the market author a blog.  An excellent way to keep yourself in the social media world and a chance for your industry expertise and opinion, help give the impression of you as a “taste maker” in the industry. 

4.      Get quoted: Volunteer to be a press point of contact.  Meet editors and journalists whenever you can.  Get them turning to you when they need a “quote” for an article they are looking to publish.  Make yourself available for such activities in the Press and when you commit to helping out with penning a story – do it NOW!  Show them they can come to you and feel safe in the fact you will get the request to them on time!  Good head hunters should be reading multiple trade sites and if you are networking with the right ones, you will be read and you will be head hunted!

5.      Relationship building and reciprocation:  The best candidates I have are the ones that also put the effort in to build “our relationship”.  If you have chosen to work with a head hunter, cultivate the relationship. Open up your network bit-by-bit, till you are very comfortable with your head hunter contacting people you recommend anonymously or with using your name as a referral.  Call them, every quarter, just to let them know you are about and if you can be of any help to them.  It certainly can be a case of “I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours”.  A great head hunter will want to share with you the latest information they uncover.  Providing your head hunter with advice and news will put you at the top of their mind for when that juice role opens up!  Friends want to help friends, and with 9 years of recruiting, I now count some of my original candidates as my closest friends!

6.      Honesty is the best policy:  Great head hunters will handle your personal information with the strictest confidentiality.  They won’t release your details randomly and they truly will try to match you with the clients and roles they see are the best fit.  Show the same respect.  We love the job of helping our clients, candidates and of course ourselves to experience a win-win-win solution.  We cherish our reputations as much as you do.  We seek the BEST solution for our client available. When working with a head hunter and going out to their client, don’t do it to gain leverage for your current position (i.e. to get a raise), and don’t “forget” to mention you are near offer with another client, or in fact your salary really isn’t THAT high.  Give feedback honestly and quickly after meeting their client.  Your actions could have a negative effect on their relationship with their client.  So, be honest with your feelings about the role, don’t leave the head hunter guessing.  Just because you say “No” to this opportunity, a great working relationship with the head hunter, will mean they continue to present you the best opportunities in the market to you first.  A final point to note, the truly great head hunter is working with key hiring executives – Country CEO’s, Regional MDs, Global CEO’s.  They are working with them for a reason; they have gained the respect of their client through their results and reputation.  They will be listened to by their client about the candidate – the good, the bad and the ugly!

Published (although edited here):


http://www.campaignjobs.asia/article/304606/advertising-getting-head-hunted/

'Creative up to four times more important than the media plan' says comScore

Something I'm sure the "creatives" knew all along ;) But at the same time, if a GREAT creative isn't being seen due to its media plan - it isn't going to mean much!


By magz osborne on Oct 13, 2010 Campaign Asia Pacific

GLOBAL - comScore Inc has released findings showing that creative quality drives more than half of the sales changes for brands analysed, four times higher than the impact of the specific media plan involved.

The findings were based on extensive research conducted by comScore ARS into effective campaign execution for TV and digital advertising campaigns.

“Through our copy-testing measurement, we are able to quantify the quality of a campaign and show a 0.90 correlation between ARS Persuasion Scores and changes in brand sales,” explained Jeff Cox, executive vice president of comScore ARS.

“Based on our years of research in this space, we’ve determined that the quality of the creative is four times more important than the characteristics of the media plan in generating sales.”

Cox went on to say that creative is the single most important factor and accounts for over half the changes in a brand’s sales over time. He says that the importance of creative often gets minimised in the process of developing an ad campaign.

“Now is the time for advertisers using digital, as well as more traditional media, to get serious about optimising their creative on the front end so they don’t get a rude awakening when the ads don’t work and they are left wondering what went wrong.”

Steve Elrick, regional executive creative director at BBH Asia Pacific said, "I suppose as a 'Creative' one would expect me to leap at this as proof of our complete majesty over all things. And it does! But I can sympathetically imagine Media people shouting 'unfair' if the metric used is 'average' media buys. Doesn't this simply say that a strong, powerful message will resonate much more than a weak one? Based upon years of my research in space of common sense I can sort of agree."

I was asked to write for Campaign:Five things you need to know about mobile marketing in Japan

Five things you need to know about mobile marketing in Japan - Blogs & Opinions - Five Things - Marketing - Campaign Asia-Pacific


1. The mobile landscape.
There are over 110 million mobile subscribers across three mobile network operators in Japan, and over 80 per cent of subscribers use mobile data services. This translates to a whopping three quarters of the country's population. Even taking out users who only use the data capacity for messaging, it leaves nearly 70 million mobile internet users. With less than three per cent of global mobile subscribers, mobile internet penetration is more than double any European country and that of the US. Estimates of mobile advertising spending in Japan are as high as 38 per cent of the total global figure.

2. User experience.
The Japanese certainly love their mobile technology and embrace it faster than any other country. Over 95 per cent of subscribers are on a 3G handset – the highest penetration in the world. The quality of the network and the coverage is exceptional and this leads to an unparalleled user experience. As 75 per cent of users are on a flat-rate data plan, advertisers are not afraid to utilise data-intensive sites and applications, allowing for highly creative and innovative marketing campaigns all delivered into the hands of their target consumers.

3. Content rich environment.
All mobile network operators in Japan follow an open platform strategy. Staying out of the content business themselves, and offering content providers a pay out of around 90 per cent of the revenue, has resulted in a plethora of easily accessible mobile sites and a consumer that is not suffering from any cost barrier when downloading content rich media.
A downside is that media planners do have a hard time to target across all three carriers and the thousands of sites available. Marketers of large brands in Japan also tend to be of a different generation to the users, and there still is a big gap in knowledge and realisation of the potential of mobile content and marketing for some of the best known brands in Japan.
Educating brand owners by advertising agencies is the key to success – unfortunately while TV media still generates huge profits for the key advertising giants in Japan, a next big wave of content and advertising campaigns is a little ways away.

4. Device fragmentation.
The mobile network operators hold the keys to the kingdom in Japan. They define the device specs they require for their different lines of handsets and the device manufacturers make to order – of course at their own risk. The beauty for the consumer is that with three mobile phone operators with very similar functionality, developers and marketers rarely have to worry about device fragmentation and usability across the networks. This has significantly contributed to high consumer adoption of mobile data services.

5. Just plain 'funky'.
Japanese love convenience and have a lot of idle time (thanks to long train commutes). The more ways they can utilise their pocket-size, personal device, the more they love using them. We see mobile handsets used for everything from SNS to electronic payments, from navigation to video-on-demand, and of course calling.
The average 16 to 24 year-old is spending at least one hour a day on web usage on their phones, and this is still early days in Japan!

*Statistics and insights credited to research done by Christopher Billich, one of the most knowledgeable experts on mobile marketing in the world